Why is my Steam VR not working?
Here are the possible reasons due to which SteamVR might not work properly or as intended:
Missing administrator rights to run Steam can also prevent SteamVR from working properly. Hence, try running Steam as an administrator to fix the problem.If you have set your PC’s power plan to Balanced or Power Saving mode, it can cause performance issues with SteamVR. If the scenario is applicable, try tweaking the power plan of your computer to high performance to get the best out of your applications including SteamVR.An out-of-date or corrupted graphics driver can also cause the problem of SteamVR not working fine on Windows PC. Faulty graphics drivers affect VR gameplay. So, make sure you have an up-to-date graphics driver on your system.If you are using some add-ons with SteamVR, there are chances that they might cause performance issues. In case this scenario applies to you, you can try disabling SteamVR add-ons and then check if the problem is fixed or not.The in-game overlays can also prevent SteamVR from working as intended. Hence, try disabling in-game overlays in Steam to get rid of the problem.
Based on the above scenarios, you can try a suitable fix to resolve the problem.
SteamVR not working on Windows PC
Here are the methods you can try to fix the problem of SteamVR not working on your Windows PC:
1] Run Steam as an administrator
The first thing you should do to fix the problem is to relaunch Steam with administrator privilege. There are high chances that the issue is caused because Steam doesn’t have sufficient permissions to perform certain actions. Hence, if SteamVR is not working fine, close Steam and then reopen it as an administrator. To do that, go to the shortcut of Steam on your desktop and then right-click on it. From the right-click context menu, choose the Run as administrator option. Try launching SteamVR and see if it works fine or not. If it functions without any problem, you will have to launch Steam with admin rights every time you want to use it. So, to avoid, make Steam run as an administrator by default. You can follow the below steps to do that: In case this method doesn’t help you fix the issue, go ahead and try the next potential solution to resolve the problem. Read: Fix Steam App Configuration Missing or Not available error.
2] Modify the PC power plan
In case you have set Balanced or Power saver plan on your PC, it can cause performance issues with your applications including Steam and SteamVR. So, if the scenario is applicable, you can try changing your PC’s power plan to Best Performance and see if it enables SteamVR to work properly. Here is how you can modify the power plan of your PC: Hopefully, this will help you run SteamVR properly. If not, try the next method to fix the issue. See: How to Fix Steam Error Codes 53 and 101 on Windows PC?
3] Keep your graphics driver updated
If you are dealing with an outdated or corrupted graphics driver, you will face performance issues with SteamVR. To enjoy the best VR gameplay, you will need to have an up-to-date graphics driver on your PC. In case this scenario is applicable, update your graphics driver and then relaunch SteamVR to see whether it works fine or not. You update your graphics drivers using the following methods: Read: Fix Steam FRIENDS NETWORK UNREACHABLE error on Windows.
4] Change the NVIDIA settings
If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, try changing its power mode to get rid of the performance issue of SteamVR. This method has worked for some affected users and might just work for you as well. Here are the steps to do that: You can now try launching Steam and then SteamVR and then see if the problem is resolved. In case SteamVR still doesn’t work fine for you, move on to the next potential fix to resolve the problem. See: An error occurred while installing or updating the Steam game.
5] Disable SteamVR add-ons
SteamVR might not work as intended if you have enabled some add-ons. This is reposted by many affected users. If the scenario applies to you, you can try disabling SteamVR add-ons using the below steps: If the problem still persists, try the next solution to fix it.
6] Opt into SteamVR beta
You can try enrolling in the beta version of SteamVR to fix the problem. It comes with new features and bug fixes that might enable SteamVR to work properly. Here is how you can opt into SteamVR beta: Read: Fix Steam Error Codes 7 and 130 on Windows PC.
7] Disable in-game overlay
As per many user reports, the in-game overlay can also the issue of SteamVR not working properly. So, if the scenario applies, you can try disabling the in-game overlay to fix the problem. To disable in-game overlay in Steam, try the below steps: That’s it!
How do I run Steam VR on my desktop?
To run SteamVR on your desktop, here are the steps you can follow:
Why is Steam VR crashing?
There can be different reasons that SteamVR keeps on crashing. It can be caused due to corrupted, faulty, or outdated graphics drivers. The problem can also be triggered due to corrupted installation files associated with SteamVR. Now read: SteamVR keeps telling to update the Graphics driver.
